


It Could Have Happened Like This

by Hells_Ice_Heavens_Fire



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen, Growing Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-05
Updated: 2010-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23023702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hells_Ice_Heavens_Fire/pseuds/Hells_Ice_Heavens_Fire
Summary: Two possible avenues that Quinn could have taken in S1 - one where she keeps Beth and another where someone else adopts Beth.
Relationships: Quinn Fabray/Noah Puckerman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	It Could Have Happened Like This

It could have happened like this:

Quinn sits and breathes in the room the Jones’ were so kind to give her and just… _is_. She picked it up from Mrs. Jones, who used to have a particularly hard time getting to sleep when she was pregnant with Mercedes’ older brother. It relaxes Quinn and allows her to just shut everything up in her head – to stop wondering and worrying and fearing. She clears her mind and everything shuts up and sleep creeps up her spine, tugging Quinn into a sleeping position before it finally takes her.

She wakes up when the baby – sometimes Drizzle, sometimes Beth, sometimes just Baby – kicks her bladder and forces Quinn to crawl out of bed and to the bathroom. Once done, she wonders downstairs to the kitchen, where she can smell bacon. Mr. Jones is standing before the stove with bacon cooking and a plate of pancakes waiting on the table alongside plates, silverware, milk and orange juice cartons, and empty glasses.

“Morning, beautiful.” He says, turning to give her a brief smile. Quinn smiles back automatically, feeling warm and happy. She’s standing in a ratty old T-shirt of Puck’s, old cheer shorts, socks, her face has no make-up on it, her hair is a mess, and she’s very noticeably pregnant and yet she feels like a million dollars.

“Feel free to sit, honey, I’m sure Mercedes and Merriam will be down momentarily.” Mr. Jones says as he flips the bacon over. Quinn pulls out a chair and feels her eyes water because he called her _honey_ and treats her like she’s family even though her own discarded her. She wants to cry and scream all at once and tells herself it’s the baby hormones. Within seconds, Mercedes stumbles into the kitchen – looking equally as if she had just gotten out of bed – and sits next to Quinn. Mrs. Jones – Merriam to her husband – comes down seconds later in a robe and sits across from Quinn, leaving one seat for Mr. Jones, who plops a plate of bacon down onto the table before grabbing his own seat.

He kisses his wife on the cheek, says good morning to Mercedes, and they all start to eat. Mrs. Jones hands out the day’s pills and vitamins – blood pressure pills for Mr. Jones, some arthritis pills for herself (“bad bones in my family” she always jokes), some daily vitamins for Mercedes, and Quinn’s vitamins (“Baby meds” Mercedes jokes) – while loading up her own plate and urging Quinn to eat as much as she likes.

It’s just a normal, Saturday morning.

XXX

Regionals came and as they’re all still giggly and high from the adrenaline rush Quinn felt liquid gushing down her legs and froze. And she knows what that means and she’s _terrified_.

“K-Kurt!” She choked out, because she calls for Kurt or Mercedes when she’s panicking, after so much exposure to them they’re her closest friends now. And Kurt spun around, laid eyes on her, and immediately was at her side.

“Quinn’s water broke!” And everything explodes in chaos.

She was told later that her delivery was rather short – six hours of sweat, contractions, crushing first Mercedes’ hand then Kurt’s, swearing at Puck as he just stood there useless. And then Beth was in her arms and she was…perfect. Beautiful. Not at all scary like Quinn thought she’d be.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones are there and they sit her down and have a long talk and by the end of it, Quinn decided to keep Beth. Mercedes cries and Kurt just starts _babbling_ about all the infant clothes he’s already bought – “I know you always said you were going to give her up, but I’d see them and then I just had to get them, Quinn, I had to!” – and how he had even made Bath a few outfits and hats because he makes clothes when stressed and he doesn’t shut up until Beth makes a soft, whining sound.

It’s not easy, going to high school while raising a child. She’s not sure what she would have done if not for Mr. and Mrs. Jones and all the help that everyone in New Directions gives her. She graduates with a 4.0 GPA and Beth is at her graduation in a little gown that was bought by Kurt and Quinn has never felt more proud of herself.

XXX

“Mama, Mama, Urt, Urt!” Beth shouts from her car seat, struggling to get out and reaching for Kurt, who stands patiently holding some of Quinn’s bags. Quinn is struggling with the straps of the car seat – this one is always harder to get Beth out of, the damn thing might as well have a mind of its own – and when she finally manages to free her daughter from their grip Quinn gives a little victory shout. Beth wiggles out of the car and in an instant Kurt has picked her up and Beth squeals happily.

“Hey, baby girl, how are you? Have you been good, is Santa going to bring you lots of gifts?” Kurt asked. Beth shrieked happily at the mention of Santa and nodded vigorously. Kurt grinned at Quinn as he shifted bag and little girl in such a way that he could still give Quinn a quick hug.

“I see Beth still has some issues with her K’s?”

“I have no idea why. She’s going to start kindergarten soon, so if she’s still having trouble I can get her a speech teacher if need be.” Quinn responded, following after Kurt to the front door of the house.

Merriam Jones opened the door when Kurt rang the bell and ushered them in with hugs and kisses for all three of them. Beth was set on the floor while Kurt helped her take off her coat, gloves, and hat before she ran off into the living room. Kurt laughed and shrugged off his own coat and gloves to hang up next to Beth’s on the wall rack. Quinn hung up her things in between Kurt’s and what she expected was Rachel’s winter garb.

“It’s good to see you, Quinn. How’s college?” Merriam asked as she walked with Quinn into the living room where the rest of the guests were.

“College is good, Mom. Wright State has preschool classes for Beth while I’m in classes and between my scholarships and Noah, our bills are getting paid. We actually aren’t as bad off as I feared we’d be, thankfully!” Quinn said, smiling. Merriam laughed and asked questions about how her classes were going, how Beth was doing, and how Noah was as they found a space to sit on a couch. Quinn asked questions about how Markus – Mercedes’ older brother – was doing, how the community projects Merriam was involved in were doing, what time Wayne – Mr. Jones to the old Quinn – was coming home, and answering questions about Beth.

Kurt and Mercedes were hugging by the fireplace, catching up since Mercedes went to Wright State with Quinn and Kurt and Rachel went off to the _American Musical and Dramatic Academy_ in New York. Mike, Artie, Noah, and Tina were sitting on the floor with Beth who was showing them all her newest shoes which lit up _and_ glowed in the dark and therefore were the coolest things ever. Mike, Tina, and Artie all went to Kent State – Mike and Tina in the Dance program and Artie for Political Science, oddly enough. Santana, Brittany, and Finn were all attending Ohio State University and weren’t able to make this dinner – Finn had a game tonight, but he was going to be back in Lima by Christmas Eve, which was in two days. Santana and Brittany were in Lima today, but visiting Brittany’s family; they’d come by tomorrow.

“So, what’s the story between you and Noah?” Merriam asks, not pushing for anything, just there to listen to Quinn. It’s one of the things she loved about her second mother – she never prodded Quinn into making certain decisions, she just wanted to listen.

“Right now, we’re just…there’s so much going on. You know, with college for me and work for him and Beth for both of us and then there’s Sarah and Noah’s mother to consider…Sarah stays with us more often than not, to the point where we’re starting to talk about maybe enrolling her in the high school in Dayton come next semester. She’ll just be starting high school, so it would be easier on her to switch schools. We’re going to bring it up with Noah’s mother sometime this trip.” Quinn said thinking on Noah’s little sister who was just a joy to have around. Yeah, she sometimes acted like a little brat, but overall she was a good kid. And she really did stay with them a lot –since Lima and Dayton were just a little over an hour away, Noah or Quinn were seemingly always making the back and forth trip to get Sarah. Quinn’s pretty sure she can make the trip from their apartment in Dayton to Sarah’s middle school on autopilot by now.

“What does Sarah think of that?” Merriam asked.

“She was the one that started talking about it. She’s made some friends in Dayton, who are going to Carroll High, which is where we’d be able to send her if she just came to live with us. She doesn’t really have any friends here in Lima, people pick on her. Money would be tight, but I’ve got a job lined up for next semester through the University, which gets me some benefits, it pays well, and it has flexible hours. I’d be working when Noah isn’t, so he could stay with Beth and Sarah. And at the worst, Mercedes might have to maybe come over once or twice a month to babysit, but she’s already said she doesn’t mind that. We could make it work, Mom.” Quinn finished, realizing that she had gotten a little worked up over the topic. Merriam was smiling at her softly though, so Quinn didn’t feel too embarrassed.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to make it work, Quinn. You and Noah are a good team in some ways, especially since you’ve both grown up so much. I’m so proud of you, baby.” Merriam says tucking a lock of hair behind Quinn’s ear and Quinn feels so happy and loved and warm that she could just burst. She leans forward and hugs her mother, so happy to have the other woman in her life.

“Granmama!” Beth shouts, running over to their couch with a smile and something soft and fluff covered in her hands. She holds it up – it turns out to be a lion stuffed animal that looks suspiciously familiar. “See what daddy found! Did Santa come?” Beth talks excitedly and crawls onto the couch so she can sit next to her grandmother.

“He must have been having a trail run, for Christmas Eve! I bet he just wants to remind you to continue to be a good little girl, since you’ve been so good throughout the year.” Merriam says, smiling down at Beth.

Quinn stands and goes over to where Noah and Artie are still talking. Mike and Tina have been drawn over to Mercedes and Kurt and Rachel is…somewhere.

“I am never letting you be in charge of the Christmas gifts again. You have got to stop giving her free-bees.” Quinn says quietly. Noah looks at her sheepishly and Artie looks between them as if he wants to ask if he should leave or not.

“Sorry. At least next year we’ll be doing Hanukkah, so I can give her gifts every day for a few days.” Noah says, presenting his most innocent face. Quinn sighs and chuckles just a little, because she’s not actually angry, just a little miffed.

“Yeah, next year is Hanukkah. You’ll be good at that aspect of it, at least. Maybe before she’s eight we should talk about how to combine the two, I know Rachel was brought up through a combination, so maybe we can ask her about it…” Quinn trails off, looking around for the little brunette, who is still missing.

“I’m sure she’d be happy to tell you all about it.” Artie says good-naturedly, only half joking about Rachel’s incessant way of talking about herself. It’s less annoying now and more endearing.

Quinn spots Rachel, finally, walking quickly over to Kurt. She watches as Rachel leans up and whispers in Kurt’s ear, watches as Kurt’s face lights up and he turns to press a kiss to Rachel’s forehead, and watches as he leans forward to whisper to Mercedes, Tina, and Mike. Quinn dismisses them and looks back to her mother and her daughter, who are still on the couch, Beth listening attentively as Merriam talks and moves the stuffed lion around. She wonders if Judy Fabray would have ever done anything like that, something so silly in front of so many people.

“Quinn.” Rachel’s voice brings her thoughts away from possibilities and mothers. She arches an eyebrow at Rachel, who is smiling at her and nearly vibrating with suppressed excitement. “I have it on good authority that the current car seat you have been using in your car is something you struggle with and despise because it seems to always fight with you whenever you need to get Beth out of it. I also have it on good authority that the one that is currently in Noah’s car, back in Dayton, was very expensive but much safer and more comfortable for Beth. Also, that it’s easy to get Beth in and out of it. I understand that, as you are a college student supporting a child in addition to yourself and sometimes Sarah, money is hard to come by and since you already – ”

“Rachel, I like you, but if you don’t come to the point I will cut you, once I’m sure Beth isn’t looking that is.” Quinn cuts Rachel off. The other girl continues to smile at her and now she’s starting to _bounce_.

“I got you another car seat, just like the one you like! And I already got it all set up in your car and the car seat you hate is in the garage waiting for you to either torch it or sell it on ebay, whichever you would prefer. Merry Christmas!” Rachel says, bouncing forward to hug Quinn tightly. Quinn hugs her back out of reflex and then what she actually said sunk in.

“Rachel, that seat costs over two hundred dollars!” Quinn exclaims, tightening her hold on Rachel before letting her go.

“I know! Didn’t have any take out or coffee or hot cocoa for months! And every time Kurt and I sang on the streets and got money, my share went straight into a piggy bank and when I sold some of my old jewelry – not specifically for you, they were things I’ve had since middle school, it was time to make room for grown up jewelry, that’s all – it went towards your gift. I was so happy when I saved enough to get it for you!” Rachel exclaims, once again lurching forward to hug Quinn. Quinn wraps her arms around Rachel’s back and lifts her feet off the ground to spin the other woman, both of them laughing.

XXX

Noah and Sarah’s mother suffers a heart attack during Sarah’s sophomore year in high school. Beth is in the first grade and they have all just moved into their first home. They don’t get a call until the woman dies in the hospital, two days after she was brought in. It’s a process after that –jumping through hoops and paperwork to get legal rights to Sarah. Since Noah is an adult with a good job and has been caring for Sarah for two years, it’s the only option that makes sense. It takes six months, but one day all the paperwork is finally done and they no longer have to show up to court.

Beth starts to call Sarah her sister-aunt.

XXX

It doesn’t come up until Beth is in the third grade. Quinn’s rather shocked that it didn’t come up before that, really. It starts with a harmless science project – Beth had to make a family tree. Noah bought her really nice poster board and Quinn printed out some pictures that Beth could cut up and helped Beth spell everyone’s names.

When Quinn picked Beth up that day, she was frowning and looked close to tears. Quinn spent the whole drive home trying to coax her daughter into telling her what was wrong, but Beth wouldn’t say a word. They got home and Beth rushed straight to her room, slamming the door behind her. Sarah, who was attending Wright State like Quinn had and saving money by living at home, poked her head out of her room – which was next to Beth’s – and looked questioningly at Quinn.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, she came home upset.” Quinn said. Sarah nodded thoughtfully.

“I’ll ask before Noah comes home.” Sarah said, retreating back into her room. Quinn nodded and went to go look over some of her client notes – she graduated Wright State with a Masters in Psychology and worked in union with social services in Dayton to council troubled youth. She never recorded any of her sessions, but took detailed notes which helped her help them.

Sometime when she was rereading her notes and cross checking records, she heard Sarah go into Beth’s room. The walls were thin enough that she could hear them talking, muffled, but thick enough that she couldn’t make out any words.

“I’m home!” Noah called out as he came in through the garage door.

“In the living room!” Quinn called out, shifting her notes into a more organized mess in front of her instead of all over the place. Noah pressed a kiss to her temple as he tossed his jacket and briefcase on the far end of the couch.

“ _Daddy!_ ” Beth shouted as she threw her bedroom door open with a bang. She was crying as she ran full speed towards Noah, arms already reaching upwards for him to pick her up. Sarah was behind her, lips pursed.

“What’s wrong?” Noah asked, swinging Beth up. Quinn got up, more concerned now then she was earlier, rubbing Beth’s back.

“My teacher said my grand-mama isn’t my grand-mama, but she is, isn’t she? She said because my skin isn’t black that she’s not my family.” Beth said, looking up at Noah. Quinn’s hand froze on Beth’s back, wondering how they were going to explain this.

“Of course she is your grandmother, honey, of course she is. It doesn’t matter what your teacher says.” Noah said, walking to sit down on the couch with Beth on his lap. Quinn sinks down next to him, mentally rearranging her schedule tomorrow so she can fit in a talk with Beth’s homeroom teacher. Sarah folds herself into the recliner nearby, watching Beth carefully. Quinn wonders if Sarah still thinks of Beth as a baby, tiny and fragile, the way Quinn does sometimes.

Beth stops crying eventually and Noah gets up to cook dinner. Beth helps as best she can – mixing things and washing vegetables and fruit – and by the time dinner rolls around, she’s chattering away about how she got to tell her classmates all about seeing a live show on Broadway last weekend and how pretty Rachel Berry was and how Kurt Hummel called her an Angel and everyone was jealous of her.

(It doesn’t shock her that the two are on Broadway. What does shock her is that they all still somehow manage to be friends even though their schedules are insane and Quinn is a psychologist in Ohio while they’re _famous_. People Magazine’s last cover had a picture of Rachel and Beth hugging on it for crying out loud. What is her life?)

Noah caught her eye from across the table and she knew that he had also mentally changed his schedule to clear away a space for tomorrow.

She just hoped the spaces lined up so they could go together.

XXX

The last time Quinn ever sees Judy Fabray is in a shopping center in Columbus.

Quinn was shopping for something to wear to Kurt and Rachel’s newest show when she happened to look up and there, walking past the front of the store, was Judy Fabray in all her glory.

And in that moment, Quinn was 16 again – terrified as she watched her whole life crumble before her eyes, looking to her mother to say something, _anything_ , in her defense. In that moment Quinn felt the crushing betrayal as her mother looked away from her, didn’t say anything, and allowed her father to kick her out of their house. Then the moment passed and Quinn was at once thirty years old again, best friends with two Broadway sensations, loving mother, and successful. She had a loving mother and father, named Merriam and Wayne Jones, and a wonderful husband and partner. They had helped raise his little sister and were raising a bright and lovely little girl.

She wasn’t afraid of Judy Fabray and she wasn’t ashamed of the decisions she made as a child. This woman, this shadow of her past, had no hold over her. Quinn returned to her shopping and when she got home, she called her mother, as she usually did on Wednesdays.

XXX

Their lives are good.

* * *

It could have happened like this:

“Terri, have you seen my pocket square?” Will asks, ruffling through drawers. He was just opening another drawer to search when Terri rushed into the room.

“Here, go watch the dinner, I’ll find it for you, you’re going to look ridiculous in it, but it’s your choice.” Terri says, practically pushing him out of their bedroom. He’s so distracted that he doesn’t even notice how panicked Terri seems.

XXX

Will calls his wife from the hospital as they’re waiting for Quinn to give birth. She understands that he’ll be a little late and encourages him not to think about her, to worry about Quinn. Terri hangs up and then calls her sister.

“She’s having it now, oh God, what do we do?!”

XXX

They name her Aimee. Will thinks she’s beautiful, a little angel. Aimee has blonde hair and stunning baby blue eyes. He looks at her and thinks about how lucky he is to have a wonderful wife and lovely daughter.

It hurts when Emma leaves, but he knows it’s for the best. He loves Emma, he does, but he has a family and can’t be distracted by her. His dreams are bigger than that now.

XXX

His little girl takes her first steps in the choir room, after a breathtaking number the whole club arranged. Quinn cries and he wonders for a moment if she is thinking about her own daughter, wherever she ended up, before he rains praise down on his little girl.

Aimee has both him and the New Directions wrapped around her little finger: Kurt makes her hats and brings her hot wheels, Mike and Tina have her dancing as soon as she can walk by herself, Artie and the new girl Sugar take so many pictures of her Will wonders if they’re not a little baby crazy, Mercedes and the new boys Samuel and Rory seem to always be bringing books for her to read – He will later say that those three are responsible for Aimee’s love of fantasy books – and Finn and Rachel always make sure Aimee is entertained when Will brings her to Glee practices. It’s Puck and Quinn that shock him the most, Puck had matured a great deal because of Quinn’s pregnancy and being exposed to Aimee so much got him to clean up his vocabulary and pay more attention in school. He had been accepted to a University in Illinois on full scholarship for engineering and Will couldn’t be prouder of him.

Quinn babysat for Terri and him quite a lot, which seemed to make her happy and soften her edges a little. She was eventually accepted back onto the Cheerios and was accepted to Yale. Yale! She turned it down to go to Wright State in Columbus so she could study to become a therapist, but he was so proud of her none the less.

Rachel and Kurt were going to New York this summer – Rachel to NYADA and Kurt to NYU – and everyone’s plans seemed to be coming to head. He was so proud of all of them and so happy that they all seemed to love his daughter as much as he did. He thought that if not for Aimee, he might actually lose touch with some of his kids, but he didn’t think they would allow that.

They all loved Aimee too much.

**Author's Note:**

> The author of this fic is deceased. This was posted by her fannish next of kin. Comments are appreciated but they won't be answered.


End file.
